Perla’s Picks (Vol.1)

Sports Columnist Dalton Perla breaks down his top betting picks

Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a big proponent for gambling. It’s a lot of fun and adds a little extra something to sports when we are in the dog days of the sporting world between the NBA finishing and the NFL starting back up. If you don’t gamble and don’t understand what some of the numbers mean I’m going to throw in a little gambling 101 at the end so that way you know what the hell some of the numbers mean and what I’m actually talking about. I will try to make this a semi regular thing just to keep the blogs going because lets face it not much else is very exciting to blog about during the months of July and August.

Use my picks or don’t its really your choice. I, like any gambler, can tell you from personal history that there are bad weeks and then there are good weeks with this stuff. Nothing is ever a lock that’s why they call it gambling. With that being said let’s get to the picks:

Game 5 of the Warriors and Cavs should be a good one. Last game the Cavs got the win and avoided the sweep with a record setting first half. I was so pissed when all of that shit happened because I didn’t bet the over on the total score and I was too much of a pussy to take the moneyline on the Cavs even though I knew they wouldn’t allow a sweep to happen. Tonight the game will be back at the Oracle and this game is really a toss up given the history that was made last year. I got a sinking feeling during last game, even when the Cavs were up by 16, that they were still going to lose. If there was a way to bet on Lebron faking an injury I’d be a rich man but sadly there’s not so lets get on with it.

The Nationals are playing great baseball right now. They seem to very rarely slump in their hitting and their bullpen is definitely getting the job done with them sitting in first in their division. I’m not a huge spread guy when it comes to baseball so this is a gimme moneyline to add into a parlay with some other stuff. Nats have Strasburg pitching and hes 7-2 so far this season.

Last year’s world series winning Cub’s are off to a shaky start here before the allstar break currently playing as a .500 club. Tonight they have Lackey going up against the much shakier Mets who just can’t seem to get anything right with their bullpen later in games. deGrom is a hell of a pitcher and already has 94 strikeouts on the season. Both Pitchers are coming off of a poor performance in their last outing but what separates these teams is good management and better batting from the Cubs. Definitely look to throw the over on this game in with the aforementioned Nats moneyline on a parlay.

Perla’s Pick: CHICAGO CUBS + 1 ½ – 175 o 8 ½ – 120 + 125

Betting 101:

+ = added to final score

– = subtracted from final score/

o/u = over or under on final score

+110/-110 = + is unfavored and – is favored, this really just means how much they are paying out vs how much you need to bet so in order to make 100 if it is -110 you need to bet 110 and to make 100 for +110 you need to bet 90

Example: CHICAGO CUBS + 1 ½ – 175 o 8 ½ – 120 + 125

This means that the cubs get one and a half runs added to their score at the end and the odds are favored at -175 meaning you have to bet 175 to make 100. Over eight and a half means both teams need to score over eight and a half runs to make it an over and this is favored with the odds at -120 meaning you have to bet 120 to make 100. The last number is the money line and this is a straight up who will win the game type bet and because the odds are +125 that means you can bet 75 to make 100.